"Now I will arise," says Hashem, "now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up." Because of all the evils the enemy inflicted upon My people, the Holy One says: enough, I will no longer hold Myself back. Now I will arise, I will be exalted and lifted up. I will save the people of Israel. "I will be exalted," explains the Malbim, over the camp of Ashur. "And I will be lifted up" through this in the mouths of all creatures. For when the Holy One takes vengeance, "O God of vengeance, Hashem, O God of vengeance, appear," what results from this? The name of Heaven is sanctified in the world. Therefore when we ask, "O God of vengeance, appear," it is not so that we can finally repay the nations as they did to us. No, rather it is so that through You, Master of the world, appearing, Your name will be sanctified. For when the enemy insults and blasphemes the people of Israel, what is being desecrated? The name of Hashem. Because we are the people of Hashem. Ah, where is their God? Why can He not save them? His blessed name is desecrated. "Why should the nations say, where is their God?" Or as Moshe said, "Why should Egypt say, He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains." Look, He could not bring them into the land. When the people of Israel suffer, there is a desecration of the name. And when we ask that Hashem's name be exalted through vengeance He takes on the nations, it is so that through this His blessed name will be sanctified in the mouths of all creatures. So "now I will be exalted" over Ashur, and consequently "now I will be lifted up" in the mouths of all creatures, that the name of Hashem will be lifted up in the mouths of all creatures over the wonders He performed.
"You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that will devour you." You, the camp of Ashur, "you conceive chaff." What is chaff (chashash)? It is the head of the stalk of grain, which is called chashash. It burns very quickly. And because you conceived, a term of pregnancy, chaff, then what did you give birth to? Straw. This is the stalk, the straw is the part up to where the kernels are located. From the ground up to the location of the kernels is called straw. So because your conception was of chaff, consequently the result, the birth, is the stalk itself, which is the straw. "And your breath," this is the speech with which you insulted the ranks of God, blasphemed the name of Heaven so to speak, He says this is what will burn you, your own speech will burn you. It will be the fire that burns in the straw and in the chaff. The chaff, as we explained, is the head of the stalk. Why the doubling of straw and chaff? The Radak explains here: he says the thought is considered pregnancy, and the deed is called birth. So they thought to capture Yerushalayim, this is "you conceive." There was here a conception of chaff, meaning a conception that has no substance, of what? Of the head of the stalk which is worth nothing. All their thoughts are...
vanity and emptiness. And not only that, but even when you give birth, when you come to bring it into actuality, which is the aspect of birth, that is already the transition from intent, from thought, to implementation, even then what will be born? Only straw. Nothing will be born here that is to be feared, and therefore ultimately this fire that will emerge from you will burn you yourselves. The angel of Hashem that struck the camp of Ashur, it is written that this angel of Hashem burned in such a way that the soul was burned while the body remained intact. That is why he uses the image here, "a fire will devour you." And why does he compare it to fire? Because it is really the inner dimension, as we explained, what went through their minds? How they would conquer the people of Israel? And this he compares to what? To chaff, to the head of the stalk, to straw. He says these things will burn, how? Through the angel of Hashem who will burn you from within.
"And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down that are burned in the fire." The Malbim says there are two things: there are burnings of lime and there are thorns cut down in fire. First, perhaps, what does "cut down" (kesuchim) mean? Kesuchim means as in "you shall not prune, you shall not cut," meaning cut off, chopped. This is called kesuchim. The Radak explains why specifically thorns that are cut down? Because when the thorn is still attached to the ground it is still green, it does not burn quickly. But cut it, give it two or three days to dry out, and then the smallest spark, a discarded cigarette, and immediately there is fire in the field of thorns. So they are in the category of thorns cut down. So why does he repeat it twice, burnings of lime and thorns cut down? The Malbim says: lime has the advantage that it retains its heat for many days. But it does not burn quickly, it takes time until the lime can be ignited. In contrast, dry thorns are exactly the opposite. With a small spark they immediately burn, but at the same speed with which they burned they are also extinguished. So he says the peoples will be like burnings of lime, whose advantage is that it lasts for many days. But what would you think? Ah, but until they are lit it will take time. He tells you, no, no, no, like thorns cut down, they will be lit immediately, their burning will be immediate. Ah, like thorns? So what, the fire will immediately go out? He tells you, no, no, no, like burnings of lime, it will continue burning for a long time. That is to say, there were here both advantages: it ignites immediately like thorns and it remains burning for a long time like lime.
"Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, know My might." Rashi explains who are these who are far off and who are those near? "Those far off" are those who believe in Me, those who do My will from their youth, says Rashi. Meaning he serves Hashem from afar, from ancient times he serves Hashem. "And those near," says Rashi, are penitents who have drawn close to Me anew. They are near, meaning they have drawn close. Now see how wonderful, how well this fits what Chazal say: in the place where penitents stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand. For behold you see that ultimately how does he define the penitents? "Near." Now, we explained that "near" means they have newly come close, meaning they have just arrived, in contrast to the far one who already believes in Hashem from afar. But one can also see in this that so to speak the near one is now close to Hashem, whereas those who came from afar, he is still in the category of far, because the level of penitents is closer to Hashem.
The Malbim explains "hear, you who are far off," meaning the miracle that the Holy One will perform here will be heard from afar, "hear, you who are far off." It will be possible to hear it, even those far off will hear the miracles of how the Holy One will destroy the camp of Ashur. "And you who are near, know My might." This report will spread more at a distance than nearby. He says, that is how it is normally, but here it will be the opposite. And I will explain. Usually when something astonishing happens, where are people more impressed by it? Far away. Why? Because far away, on what is it based? On reports. Did you hear what happened? Wow, they say there was an explosion, something unbelievable. Why? Because you were not there. You were not there, so consequently the story is always more astonishing. In contrast, when you are at a certain place, you see it was not as bad as its outcry. I once said, whoever wants to know how much the newspapers lie should read a description of an event he himself attended. Then you will see how much imagination is mixed in, how much imagination the reporter has and how much description there is where you say, I was there, what stories are you telling us? So a story always heard from afar is more astonishing than to someone who was at the place itself. He says but here with the Holy One it was not so. With the Holy One it was the opposite. "Hear, you who are far off, what I have done," for the distant places it will be a report, "hear, you who are far off, what I have done." But "you who are near, know My might," for those near it will be more, it will be in the category of knowledge. And this is a higher level, that even those near will see the miracle and wonder in a wondrous way. As one of the great ones of Israel once said, what is the difference between the Chafetz Chaim and others, other people known as great? And not specifically him but also other great people of his level. He said that people, usually when there are great people, when you draw close to him you say, listen, ultimately he too is a person like me. Indeed more elevated, more exalted, but when you draw close to him his greatness actually diminishes in your eyes. In contrast, with the Chafetz Chaim, he said, whoever heard of him from afar knew that he was great and mighty, and whoever was in his close presence was even more impressed by his greatness. And this is truly a remarkable thing, because always when there is someone great and you draw close to him, you, how does the Gemara put it? A Torah scholar, after he spoke with him, he already seems in his eyes like a glass vessel, once he needed him he already seems in his eyes like an earthenware vessel. From afar he sounds great, they think he is a giant, but when one draws close to him he sees, so to speak, he too is a person. He says here, no, with the might of Hashem, whoever was near was more impressed when he saw the might of Hashem. It was not reports that reached afar, but here they truly saw the greatness of Hashem.
"The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the hypocrites: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" The sinners who did not believe in Hashem, when they heard that Sancheriv was about to draw near, that he was about to arrive, "the sinners in Zion are afraid." They dreaded Sancheriv who was now drawing near to Zion. The hypocrites, these are the two-faced ones, they were ashamed to say with their mouths that they were afraid, that they did not believe in Hashem. But they entered a state of trembling, trembling seized them. The trembling of the body they had was noticeable to all. Everyone saw that they were in fear. Why? They said, "Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?" Who can dwell here in Zion when the camp of Sancheriv besieges us all around and a devouring fire threatens us? "Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" Who among us can dwell, who can live here in this place where there will be the man who is everlasting burnings. "Burnings" (mokdei) is from the language of being burned at the stake, fire. For Sancheriv set the whole world ablaze, the Gemara says that he threw all the nations into confusion. So who can dwell in such a place to which a man who burned up the whole world has arrived, everlasting burnings?
The Holy One says to them: "He who walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands from holding of bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil." The Holy One says to them: you need not worry. "He shall dwell on high; his refuge shall be the fortresses of rocks; his bread shall be given, his waters shall be sure." Hashem says to them, you have nothing to worry about, you have a king who is a righteous king, and by his merit Hashem will perform all the signs and wonders. You have a king who walks righteously and speaks uprightly. King Chizkiyahu "shall dwell on high," he does not fear, he does not dread the enemy. He "walks righteously," charity (tzedakah) is always in matters between man and his fellow. "Speaks uprightly," uprightness always means integrity in matters of faith. He has pure faith in Hashem, he has integrity in his beliefs. "Despises the gain of oppressions." He despises matters between man and his fellow involving profit, gain, "to gain gain" means to profit through another, in a matter that can cause the other to be oppressed. That is to say, sometimes a person wants to profit, but he buys something from the other or sells something to the other, so both I profited and you profited. But sometimes there is a situation where a person knows I can profit on one condition only, only if you lose. There is no way that I profit and you do not lose. I will give an example, this is the pyramid scheme. The pyramid trading method is where you do not buy anything and do not sell anything, but rather what? They enroll you, and then you must bring another ten to enroll in your place so that you can get out of the situation. And that is their job too, each of them must enroll another ten so that he can get out of the situation, and if he enrolls a hundred then he also begins to profit. But this is really a kind of trade in which it is not that someone buys and another sells and both profit. Rather, in truth, someone here is bound to lose from this affair. When you trade on the stock market, there too usually the profit is virtual, so when someone profits it is usually because someone lost. So he says with him it was not so, "despises the gain of oppressions." He despises profit that comes through someone else being oppressed, through someone else losing. "Who shakes his hands from holding of bribes." He shakes his hands from holding of bribes. That is to say, not only did he not go and take a bribe to judge between two people, but the way of kings was to receive a gift. They would receive a gift from all sorts of subjects who came before the king, they would bring the king a gift, as Yaakov told them to take before Yosef "a little balm, a little honey, spices, pistachios and almonds." That was the way. He, Chizkiyahu, was not willing to take this. And why? Because perhaps tomorrow you will come to judgment against another person and I will remember that you brought me such an honorable basket. No, "he shakes his hands from holding of bribes." He shakes his hands, not to take a gift from any person, lest through this he come, God forbid, to hold a bribe. And also "he stops his ears from hearing of blood." He would not accept slander about any person. And even if they told him that someone rebelled against him and became liable in his life, he would stop his ears from hearing so as not to come to bloodshed. And also "he shuts his eyes from looking upon evil." He shuts his eyes so as not to look upon evil, for it is known that the source of coveting and desire is in the eyes. I see what you have, I want it too. I see how much you succeeded, so I envy you. He would shut his eyes from looking upon evil, he would shut his eyes from looking at anything that would bring him to evil. "He shall dwell on high; his refuge shall be the fortresses of rocks." Since this is so, King Chizkiyahu does not fear the devouring fire. All those people we spoke of earlier who are "afraid in Zion," who are they? Sinners. "Trembling has seized," whom? The hypocrites. But one who is righteous, who walks righteously, speaks uprightly, despises gain, he does not fear, he does not dread. Such a person "shall dwell on high." The enemy cannot draw near to him, he is so to speak elevated, the enemy cannot reach him, "he shall dwell on high." And not only that, but the place where he dwells is very strong, "the fortresses of rocks." He dwells in a fortress situated upon a rock, which is a place very hard to reach and conquer. What would you say? But even a fortress upon a rock can be conquered easily. How? They lay siege. Lay a siege, a month, two months, how long can he live? How much food does he even have there? You would say, if so, through this the enemy could still conquer him. He answers you on this, "his bread shall be given, his waters shall be sure." Do not fear, he has bread in an orderly fashion, he has water in a steady supply, "his bread shall be given, his waters shall be sure." And if so, he "shall dwell on high, his refuge the fortresses of rocks," without fearing or dreading the enemy at all.
And he, Chizkiyahu, "a king in his beauty shall your eyes behold; they shall see a land that stretches afar." Tzidkiyahu says, we said he does not fear or dread the camp of Ashur. But when you see "a king in his beauty," you see Chizkiyahu in his time of beauty, as we explained the meaning is to see him in his exaltedness, in his faith, in his trust. He says, on the other hand "they shall see a land that stretches afar." You also see and look with your eyes at the beauty of the king from a distant land who draws near here, Sancheriv. Who is this? The king of Ashur, Sancheriv. You say, true, we have a very beautiful king, we have a very successful king, "a king in his beauty shall your eyes behold." But seemingly, what about what "your eyes shall see," a king from a distant land? This is the king of Ashur who arrives here with all his armies. Should that not cause concern? He tells you, if after you see with your eyes the king of Ashur in his beauty with all his armies and battalions, if you compare that to Chizkiyahu, then consequently your heart shall muse on terror. "Where is the counter, where is the weigher, where is the counter of towers?" You will come to fear greatly, you will say, true, we have Chizkiyahu, but did you see what they have? Did you see with whom they come? "Your heart shall muse on terror." You will fear, dread and terror will seize you. Because you will say, if Chizkiyahu wants to fight against the king of Ashur, "where is the counter? Where is the weigher?" The kings had special men whose sole role was to count the legions. To number them, to record them. You, Chizkiyahu, do not even have the one who would count the legions of the king of Ashur. Even the one who counts you do not have, I am not even speaking of the fact that you have no tanks, no soldiers, no army, no horses against him. How did he say to them there, shout to them from beyond the wall? I will give you horses, do you have anyone who knows how to ride? Is there one who knows, I will supply you with the horses, but is there, how do you even come to speak of going out against me? Sancheriv says to him. I destroy kingdoms, and you come against me? Suddenly you are like, what in the name of Hashem? What, was Shomron not Jews? I conquered them too. They too had Hashem. Yes, idol worshipers, and we go in the name of Hashem, we trust in Him. But in truth they did not have men to fight at all. So if so, he says, we do not even have the one who counts and weighs, the one who would merely record the mighty army that Sancheriv indeed arrives with. And if so, "where is the weigher, where is the counter, the counter of towers?" This refers to those who sit upon the tower from which they would fight. They would come with elephants or with horses, often there was some high tower where one would sit and from there shoot arrows. So he says, if so, when you see the glory of "a king in his beauty your eyes shall behold," you say, this is not comparable to the beauty of Sancheriv who comes there with power and many armies. How could he fight against him? And through this "your heart shall muse on terror," through this you will enter into terrible fear and dread. Because what affects us more, "your eyes shall behold" or "they shall see"? Always "they shall see," what I see I see openly. You tell me, no, but he has inner power, strength. All well and good, but what did I see? What did I see? How did he say there, Elisha prayed that Hashem open the eyes of his servant, and what did the servant see? "Those with us are more than those with them." The whole valley around, all full of chariots of fire and horses and... ah, then he calmed down. Beforehand he had dread, what are you worried about? You are with Elisha. Do you know who Elisha is compared to all... yes, but what I see with the eye always affects me more than what I have in intellectual, conscious knowledge. But here "a king in his beauty your eyes shall behold," I must behold the beauty of Chizkiyahu compared to the mighty power that Sancheriv has, which I see, so "your heart shall muse on terror."
Therefore he says, "You shall not see the fierce people, a people of deeper speech than you can perceive; of a stammering tongue, that you cannot understand." Do not fear. "The fierce people," you see a fierce people about whom you say, "where is the counter, where is the weigher" of the size of his army. "You shall not see the fierce people," do not worry, you will no longer see him. They will be lost, cut off from before you. The people who are "of deeper speech than you can perceive; of a stammering tongue, that you cannot understand." What is "deeper speech, a stammering tongue"? "Deeper speech" are people whose speech is deep, hard to understand. They do not speak clearly, this is called "deeper speech." "Of deeper speech than you can perceive." And not only that, but "of a stammering tongue." One who does not understand the tongue, a stammerer, as we say a stammerer, his speech is stammering. "That you cannot understand," you have no understanding of what he says. These are people without understanding, so what reason do you have to fear them at all.
"Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times; your eyes shall see Yerushalayim a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be moved; its stakes shall never be plucked up, nor shall any of its cords be broken." You shall see, "behold Zion, the city of our appointed times." Zion, which you fear will shortly undergo a state of erasure by the forces of Sancheriv, do not worry, you will yet behold Zion, that it will be the city of our appointed times, everyone will go up to it on foot for the festival. And not only that you will see it in this state and splendor, but "your eyes shall see Yerushalayim," even though now you cannot picture Yerushalayim as a place that is the city of a great king, a place that has blessing, success, prosperity, because all around you now see Sancheriv who poses a threat to them. He says, picture it to yourself in another image, as if this place is a quiet habitation. "A quiet habitation," a habitation (naveh) is always a place of flocks. "Quiet" (sha'anan) is like "complacent women" whom Yeshayahu spoke to, meaning a tranquil place, a quiet place. Do you want to describe something pastoral? Sheep grazing in the pasture quietly without any concern. So picture Yerushalayim to yourself, for this is the state that is about to come upon them. Because people pictured to themselves fire, burning, war, killing, murder. He says no, no, no, no, no, this will not be the reality. Rather you shall behold Zion, that it will be the city of our appointed times, your eyes shall see more clearly Yerushalayim that will be like a quiet habitation. "A tent that shall not be moved." "A tent that shall not be moved" means this tent, the place where you dwell, shall not be moved, there will be no inner agitation in it. Meaning they will be complete with Hashem, and through this "its stakes shall never be plucked up." It will not be possible to move its stakes. The stakes are the parts that hold the tent so it does not move. "Never" will it be possible to move them. "Nor shall any of its cords be broken," but they will remain permanently. That is to say, they now relate to Yerushalayim as a tent that every slight wind from Sancheriv will come and dismantle. He tells him, you have nothing to worry about, this place will be a firm, enduring, strong, tranquil tent. A place that need not be feared, and it will yet be the city of our appointed times, the place where all will go up on foot to offer their sacrifices.
And this is against the kings who did not allow going up for the festival. For we remember that the kings of Shomron did not allow going up for the festival, the ten tribes, Yarovam and those who came after him set up guard posts, placed watchmen so they would not go up for the festival. But he says no, this is Zion, the city of our appointed times, this is a place to which they will yet go up on foot, and on the contrary, the people of Israel will yet seek Hashem in Yerushalayim. Therefore note also here there is a difference between seeing and beholding, as we explained earlier. "Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times; your eyes shall see Yerushalayim a quiet habitation." He says the tranquility of Yerushalayim is "your eyes shall see," that you can see with your eyes that this place will be tranquil, quiet. In contrast, the holiness of Zion, the place of the Temple, the place of the Shechinah, the going up for the festival, this is only "behold," this you shall behold as we said with the seeing of the soul, the inner, spiritual seeing, not physical, external seeing.
"But there Hashem in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein no galley with oars shall go, nor shall a mighty ship pass thereby." Why will this tent never be moved? Why will this tent remain forever enduring? He says because there in this tent Hashem will be mighty for us. Hashem will be strong with us there, Hashem is the mighty one, He is the one who will be with us there as a shield, He is the one who will be with us as a stronghold. If Hashem is mighty for us there, then consequently we need not fear anything. And then, even if this place becomes a place of broad rivers and streams, and this is the opposite of a quiet habitation. A quiet habitation, as we said, is a meadow, sheep are seen in it. Suddenly there will be rivers there, broad streams, this place will be a great river and the tent will no longer be like a tent standing in a quiet habitation in a peaceful place, but rather like a ship storm-tossed at sea. "Wherein no galley with oars shall go," a place where a ship cannot pass. What in fact is the parable? The king of Ashur is so to speak like some mighty fleet sailing at sea, sailing the sea to catch the ship storm-tossed at sea. He is this mighty fleet, a mighty fleet of warships, against some ship storm-tossed at sea which is Yerushalayim. So in the parable. And he wants to tell you, even if there will be a mighty one there, yet Hashem is for us. A place "wherein no galley with oars shall go," a place by which a ship would pass, even a galley with oars will not succeed in passing. "A galley with oars" means a small ship. And all the more so "nor shall a mighty ship pass thereby." That is to say, even if you see the place as an unsafe place, as a place of river and stream, you have no reason to fear the mighty fleet of Sancheriv that will come, because the Holy One will not let even a small ship succeed in passing there to harm the ship, in quotation marks yes, the ship of the people of Israel. He will not succeed in doing anything to them. Yerushalayim, as we said, is in fact the tranquil one here, she need not fear the mighty fleet of Sancheriv, that even though he drew near to them the ship of the kingdom of Yehudah will be calm and quiet without fear.
"For Hashem is our judge, Hashem is our lawgiver, Hashem is our king; He will save us." Since the Holy One is our judge, that is to say this river so to speak, we are now passing through the aspect of a rushing river stream. That is to say, we are undergoing a situation, as we said, of a ship storm-tossed at sea. He says, who brought this situation upon us? Is it natural? No, rather the Holy One brought this situation upon us, He brought upon us the situation that Sancheriv comes to besiege us. This whole situation is from Him, blessed be He, Hashem is our judge. But do not forget, Hashem is also our lawgiver. That is to say, who is it that set the laws in the world? Who is it that established reality? The Holy One. He who is the lawgiver can also change the law. So do not forget, Hashem is our lawgiver. And since this is so, He is our king. For the king has the power to pardon even not according to the law. A judge has no such power. A judge cannot say, I forgive you. What does forgive you mean? There is the punishment fixed by law. And there is a minimum he must impose. In contrast, a king? A king, no. A king can judge a person who according to law is not liable to death, "and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, and the man who did this deserves to die." Something we never find, that a person became liable to death for theft. But a king can judge, he does not need witnesses, he does not need... "a king establishes the land through justice." And the king on the other hand can also grant pardon even to one who became liable. This is the power of a king. And therefore always when we ask, we say "Our Father, our King," have mercy on us like a father, and in Your hand is the power, even if we became liable, also as a king to change the law. So Hashem is our lawgiver, first He enacted the law; second, Hashem is our king, He can act with us in kindness even if it is contrary to the law. And if so, He will save us. So He, precisely He, blessed be He, in whose hand is the power, whose the law is, whose is the justice, then Hashem, He will save us.
"Your tacklings are loosed; they cannot hold their mast firm, they cannot spread the sail; then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey." Now he compares the land of Yehudah, as we said, as though it became a place of streams, like a ship storm-tossed at sea, and yet there is some mighty fleet that cannot draw near to her. How can this be? He says, do you know why? Because who strengthens this ship? Who guards this little ship storm-tossed at sea when there is a mighty fleet that wants to conquer her? The Holy One. Hashem is the one who saves her. And therefore he comes and says, such a ship needs a captain who knows how to steer her. A captain who will not bring the ship to a state of running aground and casualties and... no, but rather a man who can guard this ship. And therefore this captain sees to it that the ship is guarded in all respects. "Your tacklings are loosed," meaning even if the captain, that is their king who is Chizkiyahu, even if he loosed the cords, he did not strengthen, for a ship one must tighten its cords, of the mast and of the sails, he left them. "They cannot hold firm," and their mast too is not ready and not strengthened. And also "they cannot spread the sail," they were not sheltered from the wind. And then necessarily in such a reality the ship cannot reach a safe place. It reaches a state where "then is the prey of a great spoil divided," that is to say they reach a state where the enemies divide a great spoil, each one comes and takes as much spoil as possible from this ship. And the ship will be in such a lowly state that "the lame take the prey." "The lame" means disabled people, a lame person is so to speak unable to do anything. But the ship will be so abandoned, in such a state that it is not strengthened, its mast not spread, the sail not spread, the covering of the ship not spread, that each one comes and takes her spoil until even the lame can come and plunder. What is the lesson? He tells you, the Holy One is mighty for us. That is to say, the kingdom and the people, if they are bound to Hashem, if they are bound to His commandments, and if they hold on to the captain, to the mast of the ship, they are faithful to the king who steers the ship, if they spread the sail to shelter from the wind outside, meaning they do not rely on nations to spread over them, they do not turn to Egypt to defend and shelter us, but rather they rely on the Holy One, then even a mighty fleet of Ashur cannot draw near to them. But if they do not do this, "your tacklings are loosed, they cannot hold their mast firm, they cannot spread the sail," they neglect. What is neglect here in this expression? It comes to express neglect in Torah and mitzvot. They do not strengthen Chizkiyahu who is a righteous king, they go and rely on other peoples to be able to save them, they think they will find favor in the eyes of Sancheriv and make peace with him like Ravshakeh and his companions, those people who went to betray the people of Israel. When this is the reality, know, "the prey of a great spoil," you will reach the point that he will come and take much spoil, and even "the lame take the prey." Even a lame person will overcome you, even he will be able to come and plunder. But if you do not behave thus but rather trust in Chizkiyahu and in Hashem and strengthen the maintenance of the ship, and what is it? The spirituality, the Torah, the mitzvot, as Chizkiyahu saw to it that there was no boy or girl from Dan to Be'er Sheva who was not expert in the laws of impurity and purity, strengthen this ship and spread, meaning you strengthen her and do not wait for someone to spread his umbrella over this ship to protect her, but rather rely only on Chizkiyahu and on Hashem, then no one will be able to draw near and harm her.
"And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." And even at the time when spoil is plundered within her, how? Through the sailors of the ship, those who pull the cords on the ship, yes, let not the one who dwells within the ship say that he became sick. The one who dwelt in her shall not say, "I am sick," "shall not say" is from the language of dwelling, he shall not say "I am sick," meaning I have been weakened, now Ashur arrives. Because he tells you, know, whoever is in the ship itself, which is Yerushalayim, "the people that dwell therein," whoever is within the ship, he will be protected, he need not fear. "The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." "Forgiven their iniquity," the Holy One is merciful, He will atone for iniquity, and consequently He will not destroy. Through this the destroyer will not come to strike within her. So if so, you have no reason to fear or dread Sancheriv, says the prophet to them. Whoever trusts in the kindness of Hashem, whoever trusts in the righteousness of Chizkiyahu and goes with him and helps him strengthen the faith among the people of Hashem, the carefulness in observing the mitzvot, this ship will be a ship guarded by Him, blessed be He, and the people that dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity without any fear.